The damage brought about by Typhoon Glenda as mentioned in part 1 and part 2 of this article included the extensive power outage that lasted for 3 days or more. Felled trees brought down electric cables as well. Even electric posts were not spared. There was too much damage that the electric company couldn't cope.
For many areas, power interruption would also mean water interruption. This is because in some phases, like ours, motor pumps powered by electricity pump up water towards community overhead water tanks which in turn feed into the community homes. And so, for as long as there is no power, there's no water.
Damage from Typhoon Glenda - Part 3
Seeing all the damage as discussed in part 2 of this article made me realize how lucky we were that the neighbor's santol (cottonfruit) tree near our backyard had been cut. That santol tree had grown so big that the trailing storm winds of typhoon Glenda would've knocked off the tree branches and trashed our house. The timely cutting of the santol tree saved us so much of grief.
Another project that proved worthwhile for us was the garden gate arch that we had constructed. That arch now has a very robust Rangoon Creeper on it. It is so lush and thick that I'm quite sure it has become heavy. But because of how solidly built that arch was, I had no apprehensions whatsoever with super typhoons knocking it down.
Another project that proved worthwhile for us was the garden gate arch that we had constructed. That arch now has a very robust Rangoon Creeper on it. It is so lush and thick that I'm quite sure it has become heavy. But because of how solidly built that arch was, I had no apprehensions whatsoever with super typhoons knocking it down.
Damage from Typhoon Glenda - Part 2
In part 1 of this article, I mentioned one tree damage that resulted from typhoon Glenda's wrath. Continuing our morning walk that day, we also saw this tree that fell on a community basketball court. Prior to this incident, I didn't notice this particular tree in our daily morning walks. There were just too many trees in this area, some owned, some just grew where they were. This one didn't seemed to be owned because it was near the community basketball court.
The tree fell and grazed and broke a coconut tree on its way down. You could see the coconut tree behind it. Half of the coconut is still standing while the top half is still drooping.
The tree fell and grazed and broke a coconut tree on its way down. You could see the coconut tree behind it. Half of the coconut is still standing while the top half is still drooping.
Damage from Typhoon Glenda
July 16, 2014, Wednesday: Typhoon Glenda started to lash down on our area for several hours. Around 2:30 am, we felt the first salvo. We knew instinctively it was the initial pounding of strong winds because the direction of the rain brought by the strong winds was towards the front of our house. It was around 3 am when power was cut.
At around 5:30 am, the winds seemed to have slowed down - but only for a few minutes. Then the pounding rain was now coming from the other direction or from the back of our house. The change in direction tells me that the center or eye of the storm has just passed us and we were in the second pass of the storm's "rim". This time, the wind was much stronger.
At around 5:30 am, the winds seemed to have slowed down - but only for a few minutes. Then the pounding rain was now coming from the other direction or from the back of our house. The change in direction tells me that the center or eye of the storm has just passed us and we were in the second pass of the storm's "rim". This time, the wind was much stronger.
Filipinos Should Learn How to Swim
It's been a year since the rains of typhoon Ondoy inundated much of Metro Manila. My second daughter's high school even had to look for another school venue because all the roads towards their school were flooded. Typhoon Ondoy brought a month's worth of rain in a couple of hours. The metrowide flooding prompted the utility company to shut off power and there were massive blackouts. It took quite a while for the floods to subside and the sun to shine. Laundry piled up and I had to wash the car floor mats due to mud.
Glass Window Replacement
A few weeks ago, I blogged about a glass window that broke due to Typhoon Basyang. Well, finally a handyman, Mang Dods, became available and dropped by to fix the window, among other things. He has an ongoing job in Tagaytay working on a vacation house extension. Dods was the foreman during our house construction and has done odd jobs at the apartment like fix the leaky roof.
Typhoon Basyang Bashed our Window
Last July 13, Tuesday night, we had one of the worst typhoons to hit us. Rainwise, Typhoon Basyang wasn't by any stretch of a Milenyo magnitude. But I thought our place was directly hit by the wrath of its winds.
72-Hour Survival Kit
My eldest daughter, Che, who is in first year college, announced she needed to prepare a 72-hour survival kit. This is for her subject Natural Science, or NatSci.
She needed to gather up all the items for the kit, make up a list of the items, take a photo of the kit and submit it to the professor. That's about much I know about the project.
The first thing she did was to search the web for survival items that constitute a 72-Hour Survival Kit. Why 72 hours? Well, supposedly, that means 3 days of waiting before a rescue happens.
The items that turned up on her search were the usual: bottled water, food, first aid kit, flash light, pocket knife, matches, candles, etc. I asked her what situation was the survival setting in? Floods? Hurricanes? Earthquake? Fire?
She needed to gather up all the items for the kit, make up a list of the items, take a photo of the kit and submit it to the professor. That's about much I know about the project.
The first thing she did was to search the web for survival items that constitute a 72-Hour Survival Kit. Why 72 hours? Well, supposedly, that means 3 days of waiting before a rescue happens.
The items that turned up on her search were the usual: bottled water, food, first aid kit, flash light, pocket knife, matches, candles, etc. I asked her what situation was the survival setting in? Floods? Hurricanes? Earthquake? Fire?
Pamantansan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa
This school became the temporary venue for all classes in Karen's school - Muntinlupa Science High School.
Displaced School Classes due to Typhoon Ondoy
After typhoon Ondoy and Pepeng struck, all roads leading to Munsci (Muntinlupa Science High School) were left unpassable. The school itself which was built on high grounds was not damaged.
But many residents nearby had to abandon their homes since floodwaters entered the houses. Initially, only bancas could traverse the roads. Classes at Munsci were suspended for a good 2 weeks during which the Principal and Mayor searched for a viable alternative.
PLMun or Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa became the temporary venue for resuming the Munsci classes. It was very difficult because many of the school equipment were left behind at Munsci.
Also, there were not enough available classrooms at PLMun for the entire displaced high school. Two class sections were assigned to one classroom as in the case of Karen's section.
Since there were other surrounding schools near PLMun, the Munsci students had to compete with other students for public transportation. There were a couple of instances that DH and I had to take Karen to school when she had to bring presentation materials.
Here's the main entrance to the school compound.
Displaced School Classes due to Typhoon Ondoy
After typhoon Ondoy and Pepeng struck, all roads leading to Munsci (Muntinlupa Science High School) were left unpassable. The school itself which was built on high grounds was not damaged.
But many residents nearby had to abandon their homes since floodwaters entered the houses. Initially, only bancas could traverse the roads. Classes at Munsci were suspended for a good 2 weeks during which the Principal and Mayor searched for a viable alternative.
PLMun or Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa became the temporary venue for resuming the Munsci classes. It was very difficult because many of the school equipment were left behind at Munsci.
Also, there were not enough available classrooms at PLMun for the entire displaced high school. Two class sections were assigned to one classroom as in the case of Karen's section.
Since there were other surrounding schools near PLMun, the Munsci students had to compete with other students for public transportation. There were a couple of instances that DH and I had to take Karen to school when she had to bring presentation materials.
Here's the main entrance to the school compound.
Firewood from Ondoy and Pepeng
After lugging all that cut branches from Pampanga last All Saints Day, it was time to go to work and cut, split and dry them for firewood. The wood came from mango and chico trees that were felled by the recent typhoons.
I simply used a hacksaw to cut wood. I don't use a machete ("itak") to chop them to firewood size. I think it's a bit faster using a hacksaw and there's lesser wastage (wood chips).
Ever since I learned how to use the hacksaw with either arm, I'm able to saw more firewood. When one arm gets tired, the other one takes over.
I don't even need to stop. I'm right-handed but with this newfound skill, I'm even able to use more of my left than my right arm by a ratio of 10 to 1!
Here's a pic of the firewood in the garage with some of them already cut.
I simply used a hacksaw to cut wood. I don't use a machete ("itak") to chop them to firewood size. I think it's a bit faster using a hacksaw and there's lesser wastage (wood chips).
Ever since I learned how to use the hacksaw with either arm, I'm able to saw more firewood. When one arm gets tired, the other one takes over.
I don't even need to stop. I'm right-handed but with this newfound skill, I'm even able to use more of my left than my right arm by a ratio of 10 to 1!
Here's a pic of the firewood in the garage with some of them already cut.
All Saints Day 2009
This year, it was dry and hot at the Sto. Domingo cemetery. At least that's way better than wet and flooded! There was overcast skies the previous day and good thing typhoon Santi just breezed through this area. Our place in Muntinlupa though was hit hard by the winds.
We left at around 8:30 am and bought breakfast at Mcdo Munti. Luckily we found a parking spot right in front. Ugh, too many people at the queues and buying so much.
I was thinking of the traffic going to Sucat approaching the memorial parks and so we took the East service road instead. Amazingly, there was no heavy traffic at SLEX.
Mom wasn't up to walking and so we dropped by the Sto. Domingo cemetery before going to mom's house. We parked the van at the kubo and proceeded to the cemetery.
Here, the gang lit a couple of small candles and offered prayers. Renz was feeling hot and so Karen covered his head with a towel. =)
We left at around 8:30 am and bought breakfast at Mcdo Munti. Luckily we found a parking spot right in front. Ugh, too many people at the queues and buying so much.
I was thinking of the traffic going to Sucat approaching the memorial parks and so we took the East service road instead. Amazingly, there was no heavy traffic at SLEX.
Mom wasn't up to walking and so we dropped by the Sto. Domingo cemetery before going to mom's house. We parked the van at the kubo and proceeded to the cemetery.
Here, the gang lit a couple of small candles and offered prayers. Renz was feeling hot and so Karen covered his head with a towel. =)
Typhoon Pepeng's High Cost of Vegetables
Ugh. Veggies prices soaring 300%! Can you believe this? With the provinces up north like Benguet and Baguio still isolated because of Typhoon Pepeng - you can. Here's the story from ABS-CBN.
I heard a simple homemaker interviewed in the news say "kapag ganyan, hindi na lang ako magluluto ng Chopsuey, ibibili ko na lang ng karne!" (if that's the case, then I'd rather not cook Chopsuey, but instead buy meat)
I heard a simple homemaker interviewed in the news say "kapag ganyan, hindi na lang ako magluluto ng Chopsuey, ibibili ko na lang ng karne!" (if that's the case, then I'd rather not cook Chopsuey, but instead buy meat)
Mistaken Identity
With the rains of Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng over, DH quickly took the task of washing the big pile of laundry to take advantage of the sunshine today.
No, we don't have househelp or a laundry woman for our clothes. In fact we haven't had any househelp since 2001. Now that she's stopped working, DH has no more plans of getting one.
She can be quite gungho with household chores especially laundry. Here, she wears her favorite work hat.
No, we don't have househelp or a laundry woman for our clothes. In fact we haven't had any househelp since 2001. Now that she's stopped working, DH has no more plans of getting one.
She can be quite gungho with household chores especially laundry. Here, she wears her favorite work hat.
Typhoon Ondoy's Blackout
We were so very lucky that we weren't as affected as the rest of Metro Manila specifically Cainta, Marikina and Pasig. The worst we got last Saturday was having to deal with the super strong rains that managed to get into our bay windows.
The roads fronting our neighbor mall was also flooded shin-deep. That we saw when we took Che to the sporting goods store for their cheerleading uniforms.
We lost power in the afternoon just when I was about to power on my piano. We were braced for the outage and so we prepared candles and batteries. DH had the foresight to prepare dinner a bit earlier to take advantage of the late afternoon daylight.
The roads fronting our neighbor mall was also flooded shin-deep. That we saw when we took Che to the sporting goods store for their cheerleading uniforms.
We lost power in the afternoon just when I was about to power on my piano. We were braced for the outage and so we prepared candles and batteries. DH had the foresight to prepare dinner a bit earlier to take advantage of the late afternoon daylight.
Rainy Days of Typhoon Ondoy
It's been raining hard the whole morning. Here's a shot outside while practicing at the piano.
Even with the wind, the rain doesn't enter the window easily. The wind mostly blows from east to west (hanging Amihan) or west to east (hanging Habagat). This window faces south.
Even with the wind, the rain doesn't enter the window easily. The wind mostly blows from east to west (hanging Amihan) or west to east (hanging Habagat). This window faces south.
Piano Room
So sorry for the lack of updates lately. There have been some crises that had to be attended to.
Anyway, with typhoons Labuyo and Maring out, the sun's finally shining and so I took some pics at home inside the newly cleaned yellow room downstairs. The Yellow Room is the only room downstairs although we all sleep in the rooms upstairs.
The reason it was added in the house design is for a practical purpose. Well, DH and I will eventually become old (and arthritis may one day catch up on us) that staying downstairs in this room may be the more practical and easiest arrangement.
The room already has the facilities for a phone line, aircon outlets, closests, etc. :)
But for now, we're also calling it the Piano Room and below is the new setup for the piano. The old piano setup at our old house may be seen here.
Anyway, with typhoons Labuyo and Maring out, the sun's finally shining and so I took some pics at home inside the newly cleaned yellow room downstairs. The Yellow Room is the only room downstairs although we all sleep in the rooms upstairs.
The reason it was added in the house design is for a practical purpose. Well, DH and I will eventually become old (and arthritis may one day catch up on us) that staying downstairs in this room may be the more practical and easiest arrangement.
The room already has the facilities for a phone line, aircon outlets, closests, etc. :)
But for now, we're also calling it the Piano Room and below is the new setup for the piano. The old piano setup at our old house may be seen here.
Aquaman at the Height of Isang
It was a wet a rainy day yesterday and the day before with typhoon Isang around. Everything outside was just wet so there was no gardening for me. With classes suspended, Renz was busy looking for Aquaman pictures on the 'net.
Aquaman's no longer in vogue so I find this preoccupation a bit strange. Although I believe it has something to do with a question I gave the kids on who among the superheroes wore a seahorse pendant.
Aquaman's no longer in vogue so I find this preoccupation a bit strange. Although I believe it has something to do with a question I gave the kids on who among the superheroes wore a seahorse pendant.
School Suspension due to Feria
For two days, Karen, Sandra and Renz have been cooped up inside the house due to Typhoon Feria. The first day (Wednesday) announcement by PAGASA was a surprise. Storm signal #2 was declared late in the previous night and Karen caught it on TV. So DH knew about the suspension of classes already and didn't wake up Sandra and Karen the following morning. There was no need to wake up Che coz it was her day off from college.
Typhoon Quinta Disaster
Ugh. Just when I thought that the new house is nearing completion and we’ll be able to move soon, disaster happens.
Earlier typhoon Quinta decided to make a U-turn and came back with a vengeance. With it came a very heavy downpour especially in the Muntinlupa area last night. The renthouse we’re occupying isn’t just suited for that much amount of rain. The dirty kitchen quickly became flooded and rose so high that the water entered the dining and living room. Ugh.
I later learned DH went home earlier to help out Tita Gay in clearing out the water from inside the house. When I came home almost everything was wet.
Here’s how the living room looked like with all the wet clutter that we took out from the carton boxes. Renz helped out (well, play mostly) sort out stuff amidst the clutter.
Earlier typhoon Quinta decided to make a U-turn and came back with a vengeance. With it came a very heavy downpour especially in the Muntinlupa area last night. The renthouse we’re occupying isn’t just suited for that much amount of rain. The dirty kitchen quickly became flooded and rose so high that the water entered the dining and living room. Ugh.
I later learned DH went home earlier to help out Tita Gay in clearing out the water from inside the house. When I came home almost everything was wet.
Here’s how the living room looked like with all the wet clutter that we took out from the carton boxes. Renz helped out (well, play mostly) sort out stuff amidst the clutter.
